Sharpening steels and stones have long been used to manually sharpen a knife blade. Various abrasives have been used as the sharpening elements in such steels and stones. Stones have been made in the form of ceramic blocks containing an abrasive composition such as aluminum oxide. Some sharpening stones or blocks have included a fine abrasive on one sharpening surface and a coarse abrasive on an opposed sharpening surface. Sharpening steels have been rigidly mounted to handles to facilitate holding the steel while sharpening a knife. In one form of known handle-mounted steel, a hollow handle is detachable from the steel, and the steel can be reversed and stored in the handle.
Despite the myriad of hand-held manual knife sharpeners that have been devised, none combines all of the attributes of being easy to hold while using, easy to use, and easy to carry when not in use. Nor do any of the known such sharpeners have, in addition to the above attributes any feature that promotes consistently accurate sharpening of a knife blade at the correct sharpening angle.
It is therefore a primary objective of the present invention to provide an improved hand-held, manul knife sharpener that combines all of the foregoing attributes.
More specifically, a prime objective of the invention is to provide an improved knife sharpener with a combination of features that renders it easy to hold, easy to use and easy to carry.
Another important object is to provide a knife sharpener as aforesaid with a built-in knife sharpening guide for sharpening the cutting edge of a knife blade at the correct sharpening angle.
Another object is to provide a knife sharpener as aforesaid which is comfortable to hold while using.
Another significant object is to provide a knife sharpener as aforesaid which provides for storage of the sharpening element in the handle of the sharpener without detaching the element from the handle.
Other important objects are to provide a knife sharpener as aforesaid which sharpens a knife faster, easier, more accurately, and better than prior manual knife sharpeners.